The Field Army Bernolák ( sk, Slovenská Poľná Armádna skupina "Bernolák") was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

of the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

Slovak Republic Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was named after

Anton Bernolák Anton Dif Bernolák; hu, Bernolák Antal; 3 October 1762 – 15 January 1813) was a Slovak linguist and Catholic priest, and the author of the first Slovak language standard. Life He was born as the second child to a lower noble family in the ...

, the first codifier of the literary

Slovak language Slovak () , is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of the larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken by appro ...

. The Slovak 1st Infantry Division "Janošík" took part in the

Slovak invasion of Poland The Slovak invasion of Poland occurred during Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939. The recently-created Slovak Republic joined the attack, and Field Army Bernolák contributed over 50,000 soldiers in three divisions. Since most ...

in September 1939. In October it returned to Slovakia and was upgraded to a fully motorized division. Another component, the Fast Troops Group ''Kalinčiak'', took part in

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

in 1941, advancing under

Army Group South Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group Sou ...

. In August 1943 the Fast Division was restructured and renamed the 1st Infantry Division. However, the 1st Infantry Division saw very little action and was used for rear area duties until it was disbanded in July 1944 to form construction units.

Order of Battle

The army's

order of battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed ...

between 1939 and 1944 was as follows: Army Commander: General

Ferdinand Čatloš Ferdinand Čatloš (October 7, 1895 – December 16, 1972), born Csatlós Nándor, was a Slovak military officer and politician. Throughout his short career in the administration of the Slovak Republic he held the post of Minister of Defence. He w ...

* Slovak 1st Infantry Division "Janošík" ** Gen. Antonin Pulanich * Slovak 2nd Infantry Division "Škultéty" ** Col. Ivan Imro, later Gen. Alexandr Čunderlik * Slovak 3rd Infantry Division "Razus" ** Gen. Augustín Malár * Fast Troops Group "Kalinčiak" ** Col. Ivan Imro

References

*Ready, J. Lee. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1995. Military history of Slovakia during World War II Infantry divisions of World War II Military history of Poland during World War II Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 {{mil-unit-stub